Archive for drawing

Who doesn’t remember etch a sketch – the portable little art screen which you could draw on. I always found it incredibly hard to create anything recognisable so I am full of admiration for this artist who makes it look all so easy! It makes me want to rush out and buy one of these and have another go!

Who didn’t like this song by Kim Carns in the eighties – yes I have lived through them (and come out of them. In fact I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and fear, but that’s a whole other blog) … Who didn’t want these eyes?…and who’s stuck with em?

ANYWAY… My mascara dries up before this mascara (there’s an ad opportunity that passed by without waving)

I WANT MY MONEY BACK!…Clever though isn’t it? and so realistically portayed….. BUT still not convinced that this is artist is actually using straight lumpy mascara…:)

There’s something about pen and ink that makes it very satisfying to use. I love pens, but they have to have black ink. Not blue, blue will not do – don’t ask me why, I just don’t know.

The mark of ink on paper is a thing of beauty to me. Whenever I get a new journal or writing book I never write on the first page. Again, I don’t really know why. Perhaps I don’t want to make a mistake. I have been known to even start writing at the back of the book – which is probably taking things a bit too far.

this was considered grown up ink by me

I love ink, I love the thick fluid quality of it. In particular I like indian ink, this contains shellac which makes it good to mix with different media for art work. We were taught to use fountain pens years ago and practise our handwriting. I always start very neatly when I’m writing then it all goes haphazard as I speed up!

late 19th century ink bottle

I have some old ink bottles like this and also some old adverts for ink. I even have a tile over my sink with Stephens ink on. Of course there has been many mishaps regarding ink. It’s terrible to get out of clothing. Milk used to be a kind of remedy for this, but I’m not sure it works on Indian ink.

Stephens ink advert

Of course ink can be used to great effect by drawing with it. I came across the artist Kevin’Chopper’ Peshkepia the other day. Not only are his paintings wonderfully expressive – so are his pen and ink drawings. I urge you to visit his site and look at his series ‘Bukowski and the Beats’. They captivated me!

I would very much like to explore the textures I have identified within the image. These would translate well into ceramic: different glazes could be used to achieve this. The image also suggest a map or an Ariel view. However these are just experiments that I shall have to leave here for the time being. They are warm ups for my main transcription which is going to be ‘Snow White and her Stepmother’ by Paula Rego.

transcription-figure 1 p15

filonov-living-head

The multi layered complex of PavolFilonov’s would translate itself well to Figure 1. Filonov was obsessed with heads and in the majority of the artist’s compositions, he used his own as the model. In ‘Living Head’ 1924, the artist’s features almost merge into the background, whilst the nose has almost snout like proportion. Perhaps figure 1 could be worked in the same way: some features emerging, and some disappearing into the background. This would afford many different possibilities.

figure2- page 17

picasso-seated-woman

Figure 2 might benefit from the basketwork construction as used by Picasso in his composition ‘Seated Woman’ 1938. Here the artist was creating a skeleton shape by the use of weblike lines. As well as the possibility of transformation as a sculpture or a ceramic, this figure could be transformed into a 3D pen and ink drawing.

figure 3 transcription-p18-

tree-of-life-klimpt

Figure 3 as Gustave Klimt’s ‘Tree of Life’, where the artist calls into question, the blackbird, symbol of death. Figure 3 could also be given a stylised effect and the tree bark that I derived from the positive and negative could be worked in sections to make a collage effect or style. This transcription would also work well with the different glazes that are used in ceramics.

This is the end of these transcription exercises.

The main one ‘Snow White and her Stepmother’ by Paula Rego is an extensive one, and coming soon…..

Automatism in its fully developed form is a 20th Century phenomenon. The Dadaists made use of the basic idea, though they were more interested in chance effects than automatism as such. For example, Dali after working in a variety of styles influenced by Cubism, Futurism and Metaphysical painting, turned to Surrealsm in 1929 and never looked back. He transformed automatism into a more positive method which he called ‘Critical Paranoia’, eleaborating on images in his dreams and fantasies and merging them with the natural world.